Multiply usage units by cost per 1K units to estimate AI spend.
Overview
AI features inherit metered costs—tokens, predictions, or other usage units. Finance needs a linear cost model before launch.
Enter usage units and cost per 1,000 units. Estimated cost = (units ÷ 1000) × rate.
Use the same unit definition your vendor invoices (tokens, requests, or compute-seconds converted to a 1K scale).
Steps
Tokens or other billable units.
Price for each thousand units.
Review estimated cost.
Scale units with user growth.
Pick a monthly cost ceiling from the result.
Math
estimatedCost = (tokens / 1000) × costPer1k
Linear pricing: cost rises in proportion to units at the per-1K rate.
Worked cases
1,000×0.0015 = $1.50
$1.50 estimated cost.
20,000×0.0015 = $30
$30 estimated cost.
1,000×0.01 = $10
$10 estimated cost.
Why use this
Questions